GROWING LIKE A WEED: Councillor Shad Qadri told the Fairwinds Community Association last week that the city’s latest population estimates put our ward at 31,841 people in 2015, up by 857 (or 2.77%) over the previous year.
Overall, the city’s population grew by just under 1% to 960,756 residents. The fastest-growing wards were Somerset (4.19%), Gloucester-South Nepean (3.53%), and Barrhaven (2.78%).
Qadri said Stittsville will eventually grow to 70,000 residents, more than double today’s size. He said that a trend to watch for is increased density in older areas as property owners subdivide large single-home lots to build multiple houses. (Disclosure: I’m the president of the Fairwinds Community Association.)
| Ward | 2014 Population | 2015 Population | Change | % Change |
| Orleans | 49,291 | 48,915 | -376 | -0.76 |
| Innes | 40,350 | 41,011 | 661 | 1.64 |
| Barrhaven | 56,139 | 57,698 | 1,559 | 2.78 |
| Kanata North | 35,561 | 36,258 | 697 | 1.96 |
| West Carleton-March | 25,583 | 25,599 | 16 | 0.06 |
| Stittsville | 30,984 | 31,841 | 857 | 2.77 |
| Bay | 45,451 | 45,512 | 61 | 0.13 |
| College | 52,586 | 52,271 | -315 | -0.60 |
| Knoxdale-Merivale | 39,664 | 39,632 | -32 | -0.08 |
| Gloucester-Southgate | 47,480 | 47,281 | -199 | -0.42 |
| Beacon Hill-Cyrville | 33,912 | 33,437 | -475 | -1.40 |
| Rideau-Vanier | 47,897 | 48,569 | 672 | 1.40 |
| Rideau-Rockcliffe | 38,605 | 38,294 | -311 | -0.81 |
| Somerset | 39,269 | 40,915 | 1,646 | 4.19 |
| Kitchissippi | 42,305 | 43,143 | 838 | 1.98 |
| River | 48,669 | 48,561 | -108 | -0.22 |
| Capital | 37,306 | 37,526 | 220 | 0.59 |
| Alta Vista | 45,180 | 44,993 | -187 | -0.41 |
| Cumberland | 45,849 | 46,554 | 705 | 1.54 |
| Osgoode | 27,487 | 27,682 | 195 | 0.71 |
| Rideau-Goulbourn | 27,409 | 27,443 | 34 | 0.12 |
| Gloucester-South Nepean | 47,248 | 48,914 | 1,666 | 3.53 |
| Kanata South | 47,502 | 48,706 | 1,204 | 2.53 |
| TOTALS | 951,727 | 960,756 | 9,029 | 0.95 |
Source: 2015 population data via City of Ottawa
PETITIONS: Two petitions came across the StittsvilleCentral.ca newsdesk last week. First, Councillor George Darouze (Osgoode) launched a petition calling for “hydro harmonization”, asking the provincial government to close the 30% gap between Hydro One rates and Hydro Ottawa rates in rural Ottawa. That’s an issue affecting many residents in the northern part of Stittsville too. More info…
“This is a wonderful initiative which requires the support of all Ottawa residents to correct Hydro price disparity. A copy of the petition will be available in my Ward office at the Goulbourn Recreation Complex,” wrote Qadri in his weekly newsletter on Friday.
The other petition was from a group called Safe Streets Ottawa, in support of a motion from Councillor Riley Brockington (River Ward) to ask the provincial government for the ability to implement photo radar as a tool to enforce speed limits. The petition recommends that residents tell their councillors that “Photo radar is an effective tool for speed limit enforcement and we should have the option of using it where chronic, dangerous speeding is putting people at risk of death and injury.” You can read more about that one here…
Councillor Qadri also weighed in on this issue in his newsletter:
“There are many instances of well-intentioned traffic mechanisms not always operating as intended. Stop signs, for example, may effectively work to bring vehicles to lower speeds; however, reckless drivers may run through the sign, endangering the lives of pedestrians who thought it was safe to cross the street.
Likewise, photo radar’s effects may prove unpredictable. Though a speeding deterrent, it will need to be demonstrated that the immediate effects will work to actively slow down drivers rather than simply punish them long after the risk has already been incurred.”
I agree with Qadri that it’s important to see studies on how effective photo radar could be at reducing speeds. But I must admit I don’t understand the logic in his stop sign example.
MORE SIGNS OF SPRING: Earlier this week the Kevin Haime golf school opened for the season. We also saw announcements from two food trucks about their opening dates: Thailicious comes out of hibernation on March 28, and Wiches Cauldron re-opens on April 19.
POTTER’S KEY: As of Thursday there’s a temporary building installed on Minto’s Potter’s Key property next to the Jackson Trails mall. It looks to me like a future sales office for the development.
CANADA DAY: The Stittsville Village Association is looking for volunteers to help organize and run this year’s Canada Day festivities. There’s a planning meeting on March 22 at 7:00pm at Thresher Avenue. For more info contact Tanya Hein at tanya.hein76@gmail.com